A wide variety of absorbent catamenial tampons have long been known in the art. While it has been found that these tampons perform their intended function tolerably well, even the best of them do not always re-expand sufficiently, or fast enough, to provide good coverage against leakage. This failure to re-expand can lead to “bypass” failure which occurs when the menses travels along the length of the vagina without contacting the tampon, i.e., the tampon fails to intercept the flowing menses.
For ease of application, tampons are typically compressed to facilitate insertion into the vaginal cavity. While tampons can generally be compressed to a small diameter to accomplish facilitation during insertion, too much compression can inhibit the tampon's ability to re-expand once inserted into the vaginal cavity.
Accordingly, there is a need for a tampon with improved performance while maintaining or improving comfort during insertion to the wearer.